Living Armstrongism

Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Mark Armstrong, leader of the Intercontinental Church of God, has another weekly update (May 11, 2018). Let's see what he has to say.

He starts by mentioning North Korea and Iran.

Greetings from Tyler,

Two of the greatest dangers on earth have been engaged simultaneously, North Korea and Iran. Everybody was scared to death of North Korea's nuclear accomplishments and the fact that they were demonstrating ICBM's in various range categories. We've chronicled the threats, the insults and mainstream reaction to the tough stance taken on behalf of the United States, and surely no one has forgotten the abject fear projected throughout the mainstream media.

He praises his preferred president for the recent state of affairs concerning North Korea.

This has been a week that history will remember, much to the chagrin of expert analysts. It was nothing if not a proud and gratifying moment to see political prisoners released from the hermit kingdom and flown home accompanied by the Secretary of State. The expert panelists attributed praise to the South Korean President, to the Chinese Premier, to Kim Jong-un himself, and figure aloud that credit for the apparent move toward a peaceful resolution belongs to anybody but the American President. Oh, it's pretty amazing alright, the speed at which the situation seems to have turned around, but there has to be some explanation other than the obvious.

And his preferred president decided to break an agreement the United States of America had with Iran heightening tensions. Mark Armstrong also praises this.

Iran is a different story. The same week that carried signs of a diplomatic breakthrough with North Korea also saw the United States withdraw from the Iran “deal,” considered the greatest foreign policy achievement of the previous administration. Former Secretary of State John Kerry held talks secretly with world leaders to shore up sentiment for saving some semblance of a legacy. He met with German leaders and the Iranian hierarchy in person in addition to telephone communications with EU representatives.

So relations improve with North Korea and Mark Armstrong praises his preferred president while relations deteriorate with Iran and Mark Armstrong also praises his preferred president. One cannot help but the inconsistency.

Mark Armstrong then mentions the recent Israeli airstrikes in Syria. The State of Israel has launched air strikes into Syria for years now.

But, as the whole world knows, the President pulled the United States out of the arrangement, calling it a disaster and a bad deal for the security of the United States as well as Israel. Within moments of the announcement, Israel became aware of unusual Iranian military activities in Syria and responded by bombing installations near Damascus. The Golan Heights lit up with Iranian rocket fire. Some twenty missiles were fired at Israel, some knocked down by Iron Dome missile defense systems but most reportedly fell short, detonating inside Syrian territory. Israel then bombed some seventy Iranian military strongholds inside Syria saying, it will be some time before the destroyed capabilities can be reestablished.

He mentions angry acts and statements by Iranians but it seems to escape his notice that continuing with the agreement would have prevented these expressions of anger. There is no attempt to understand things from the other side's perspective. Instead these words are merely used to stir up anger and distress among his followers.

The Iranians are furious. American flag burning has been a staple of Iranian protests ever since the Islamic revolution thirty-five years ago. But this week we've been treated to scenes where they burned an 8 ½ x 11 printed copy of our flag in the Iranian parliament, fists waving amid the familiar chant. Iran says it will begin uranium enrichment “on an industrial scale,” in retaliation. Islamic clerics boast a capability of destroying Israeli cities and warn that Israel better not act foolishly.

His scare mongers that relations with Europe are "irrevocably damaged" over the deal with Iran. Armstrongism has taught for decades that a future European Empire will conquer the United States and take Americans away to Europe as slaves.

Experts worry that diplomatic relations with important European allies have been irrevocably damaged. Not surprisingly, Europe's leaders are horrified that the U. S. has taken such a dramatic action without their approval. And they don't approve. Word is that they intend to honor their commitments, which is to say that they'll continue doing business with Iran even as the United States implements sanctions that were previously suspended. German flagship Der Spiegel says the action amounts to a “temporary suspension of the Trans-Atlantic alliance.” It's a short article lampooning President Trump personally, financially, and in matters of diplomacy.

He cites the editorial as speaking harshly of his preferred president.

You'll find this short quote interesting and telling. “He isn't curious. His preparation is nonexistent. Strategy and tactics are both foreign to him. Trump is only proficient in destruction. And that's what he does.”

The editorial goes on to make that case on the basis of backing out of the Paris climate agreement and “dismantling the legacy of his predecessor” by “destroying Obamacare.” Now the Iran “deal” is being destroyed without a coherent plan. We can hope the author doesn't speak for all of Europe.

But he seemingly takes comfort in the thought of the celebrations for the opening of the US Embassy in Jerusalem. (This was written before the ceremony occurred and the tragic suppression of Palestinian mass protests which resulting in at least 58 Palestinians being killed in the protest.)

There's no denying heightened tensions between Israel, Iran and its proxies in Syria and Lebanon. But Israel's leadership couldn't be happier. They're flying American flags alongside the Israeli flag in Jerusalem, naming a city square after the President and preparing for the dedication of the new American Embassy in Jerusalem. It is now recognized by the United States as the official capital of Israel, and we'll see if everybody, including the Europeans, can get used to the idea.

He ends his missive talking about Europe.

The time for pretense has passed. Clearly the Iran “deal” would have resulted in future problems of the nuclear variety for which no remedy exists. Hopefully the Europeans will get over it and realize that relations with the United States are far more important than whatever they stand to earn doing business with the world's foremost sponsor of terror. But maybe not. This administration has charted a course destined to collide with much that Europe has embraced. Those leaders are predictably put out, if not embarrassed. Maybe they'll cast their lot with the pope. They may have already.

Mark

He then briefly mentions their attempts to gain more converts.

P. S. In the first ten days of this month we've boosted our material on the Ten Commandments, Miracle of Pentecost, Is God a Mystery? And the Abomination of Desolation to the Spanish audience. Total reached, 78,000. Thirty-eight hundred responded, and we have 71 new followers. The next TCW is starting to come together. What fun!

Armstrongism has continuously taught that the United States will soon be conquered and enslaved since the 1930s. They are but false prophets. There is no need to fear their dire predictions.

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

It is horrifying that at least 58 Palestinians have been killed during the recent protest in Gaza. Most of the Palestinians were killed with live bullets by the Israeli soldiers. No Israelis have been killed or even injured which indicates that they were not in immanent danger before Israeli soldiers used such deadly force.

It was partly a protest against President Trump's decision relocate the US Embassy to Jerusalem and many within the COGs will no doubt know this. Previous presidents from both parties made sure to keep the Embassy in Tel Aviv as they knew moving it to Jerusalem was likely to cause something like this to occur. There should be no surprise that this move was accompanied with bloodshed. Anyone could have foreseen this.

But what will be less apparent for those within the COGs is that was an attempt to return to land that they or their ancestors were expelled from by those who yearned to create a Jewish state during the war that occurred in 1947-9. Their towns are very near to the Gaza Strip but the Israeli government has never allowed those Palestinian refugees to return to those homes ever since the war of 1947-9. In the 1950s many Palestinians went into the lands from which they were expelled from but many of them were shot to death to keep them out of the land then ruled by the State of Israel. The violent suppression of this protest by Israeli forces continues this long standing policy. They marched towards the site of the villages from which they or their ancestors were expelled from and received deadly fire from Israeli soldiers.

Also the Gaza Strip is under an economic blockade. After the Israeli government seized control of the Gaza Strip in 1967 at first the Palestinians in Gaza were allowed to work within the State of Israel but from around 1990 onward the Israeli government severely restricted their ability to enter or work within the State of Israel. Further restrictions on their economic activities were implemented in 2006 after Hamas won elections there and have remained since. Consequently there is high unemployment. Many Palestinians in Gaza are unable to leave. The people of Gaza face a dire economic situation. Such harsh economic sanctions promote strife since the people are desperate and yearn for an improved situation. So no wonder they marched knowing they would face death.

This violent act is a dreadful day which will be remembered for many years. Who knows how many children, brothers, sisters, fathers and mothers have lost loved ones in this terrible event? What a terrible thing to have occurred.

And shamefully the COGs insist that peace can never arrive until Christ returns. They say there is no hope. That implies that there is no point trying to solve this pressing problem. This implies that this problem cannot be solved. That is not good enough. We must abandon that fatalistic attitude.

Saturday, May 5, 2018

Previously Ron Fraser's articles for PCG's recruitment magazine, The Philadelphia Trumpet, were listed in earlier posts as may be seen in Part 1 and Part 2 of "PCG's Ron Fraser's Alarmist Articles." He also wrote articles of a more religious flavor more specifically directed at PCG members. At least some of these were presumably written for another magazine produced by PCG, Royal Vision. Some of them may be seen in pcog.org. Here are the articles written by Ron Fraser which are kept online at pcog.org.

PCG's loaded language may be seen in some of the titles. One article is entitled "Spread True Joy at This Feast." Another is entitled "Experience Real Joy." But how can joy be false? How can joy be not real? The answer is that this is loaded language. Here "true joy" and "real joy" refer to joy approved by PCG's leadership. Joy over something that the PCG leadership disapproves of is excluded when talking of this "true joy" or "real joy." This loaded language promotes conformity with PCG's rules.

Please note that the date for the July 10, 2013 article has been recently altered on the website under discussion.

While working for the PCG organization Ron Fraser made many dire proclamations that catastrophe would soon befall the world. That never happened. They are but false prophets. There is no need to fear their predictions of doom.

Friday, May 4, 2018

Mark Armstrong, leader of the Intercontinental Church of God, son of Garner Ted Armstrong, grandson of HWA, has released another weekly update (May 4, 2018). In this missive he complains about the increasing acceptance of same sex marriage, accuses the mainstream media of pushing for the removal of his preferred president and allegedly being so mean to him.

No doubt many people devote a lot of time, effort and money to keep the Intercontinental Church of God up and running but somehow none of that gets mentioned here.

Let's see what he has to say.

Greetings from Tyler,

Interesting how the news tells everybody how and what to think, and then publish polls to vindicate their posture. The latest is how a plurality of religious people are in favor of so-called gay marriage. Recently released polls claim that Mormons, one of the slowest religious groups to accept the politically-correct inevitability, have finally come around to embrace the perverse concept.

Armstrongism has a long and shameful history of demonizing the LGBT community. But nowadays this attitude is becoming harder to sell to the public. Although still prevalent in some quarters hostility to the LGBT community simply does not mobilize people the way it used to do. And Mark Armstrong's complaint reflects that fact.

And you can be confident that the information is accurate, because it's being carried by the mainstream outlets and platforms. You know, the same ones who laughed off any chance of a Donald Trump presidency as a statistical impossibility. It will probably be splashed across news programs tonight along with admonitions of how we are a democratic society, and what the majority says goes.

Actually more Americans voted for Clinton instead of Trump and most polls taken before the election accurately reflected that result. But that failed to take into account the electoral college and Trump won more electoral college votes than Clinton.

From Jews to Muslims to Catholics, they say only evangelicals lag behind 50% approval. And these are, you know, the staunch religious types. How hateful and discriminatory would you have to be to be on the wrong side of them? Besides, 61% of Americans now approve, so there's little argument left. They've told us what to think, now they're reporting that the vast majority have accepted the premise.

Mark Armstrong seems reluctant to believe that polls accurately record the views of society in general. Polls are cast as part of some sort of massive conspiracy to discredit Mark Armstrong's views.

He now turns to his favorite topic: defending his preferred president.

But that won't be the lead story. That could easily be a replay from today's date one year ago, with minor updates. Tense excitement over the president's impending indictment or impeachment over any number of his exaggerations, contradictions, denials, or false statements will take top billing. And yes, they have poll results to prove that the president's popularity is deep underwater with all but undereducated hicks in flyover country, his base, having long-since demanded his removal from office. Not because of any specific malfeasance, but because he is… Well, tune in to the mainstream outlets any day of the week and you can insert paragraphs of brutal adjectives.

Mark Armstrong often insists on defending his preferred president in these weekly updates. This time he does even bother to note why many suspect President Trump might be forced out of office, namely suspected collusion with Russian operatives during the election, alleged obstruction of justice to hinder investigation into that topic, and the possibly illegal payment of $130,000 of hush money to one Stephanie Clifford to hide information embarrassing to the president.

Everyone seems to have forgotten the crisis that broke out across the Hawaiian Islands when some incompetent was left in control of the early warning panic button. You remember how people tearfully said their final goodbyes with only minutes to live, having been warned of incoming nuclear warheads. The public was already nervous about North Korea's intentions, having demonstrated nuclear detonations and capable missile delivery systems. A panic like that might not kill you but couldn't be good for longevity.

Mark Armstrong brings this matter up to discredit those who criticize his preferred president.

It was an honest mistake, a simple error. As you were. Move along. The excitement was just an accidental drill. One that the victims will never, ever forget. Everybody fell for it because they'd been primed to believe that President Trump's flippant insults and threats of “fire and fury” would touch off a worldwide nuclear holocaust. You probably heard the frightening analysis too. “He's a madman,” (not Kim Jong-un, but Trump). Not only those in Hawaii, but around the world had been treated to frightening prospect of nuclear World War, and it was mostly the fault of the American president, so said the experts. And the worst part? He didn't even care! His boundless ego was so out of control that he was willing to see the world go up in flames without conscience.

How dare people not give full support to Mark Armstrong's preferred president even if people happen to be sincerely afraid that a few harsh words just might provoke a war with North Korea.

Mark Armstrong then complains that not enough attention is being given to events he implies would present his preferred president in a positive manner.

You might think it would be the biggest news since the fall of the Berlin Wall, that North Korea was releasing political prisoners, shutting down nuclear facilities and offering to make peace after 65 years of tense standoff technically maintaining a state of war. The people in Hawaii wouldn't even break their stride if another false warning went out today. But that takes a backseat to the ongoing mainstream obsession with the removal and prosecution of you know who.

How can it be that advocates for every socialist doctrine are our children and grandchildren's teachers, they pretend to report the “news,” and rule over the flow of information. They're more than a little concerned that they may be temporarily losing ground from a practical standpoint, on issues they'd already celebrated as won. They're so concerned that former advocates for free speech, when it suited their purpose, are fine with the use of violence and intimidation to silence dissenting voices.

Instead of addressing alternative points of view instead he scare mongers that "advocates for every socialist doctrine" are trying to teach the children of America into adopting views contrary to Mark Armstrong's liking.

He scare mongers that millions of Americans "now proudly proclaim themselves to be socialist" making his followers fearful.

No doubt we've all been disappointed at the sluggish pace of important news, and there is some, finding its way into the consciousness of the masses. But deception, false predictions and hopeful speculation regarding the president's imminent demise dominate the information landscape. Masks have been discarded. Millions now proudly proclaim themselves to be socialist, and as we just learned this week it's another explanation for “What Happened.”

He scare mongers that the constitution may be destroyed, presumably by this massive conspiracy against his preferred president, and then simply wishes "a great Sabbath" to his followers without offering any solution to the issues he presents to them.

The legacy of the past eight years may have been all but completely dismantled, but we don't yet know whether the Constitution survives. Tremendous damage has been done. It's plain to see that the standards on which all law is based have been rejected out of hand by the institutions that mold society. Good is evil, so, so evil. Evil is mainstream, and you stay behind at your own peril. That's where we are, and it's downright comforting!

Have a great Sabbath.

Mark

And somehow his followers will still send send tithes to someone who writes like this.

Saturday, April 28, 2018

Mark Armstrong, leader of the Intercontinental Church of God, son of Garner Ted Armstrong, grandson of HWA, has released another weekly update (April 27, 2018). Let's see what he has to say.

Presumably a lot of people spend a lot of time, effort and money to keep the Intercontinental Church of God up and running. Normally weekly updates are used to discuss developments within the organization. But this week apparently nothing worth mentioning happened within the organization so Mark Armstrong continues with his favorite theme, namely defending his preferred president.

First he praises his preferred president with the recent diplomatic moves with North Korea.

Greetings from Tyler,

Good news has been in short supply, especially in the dominant media. We never expected to see peace break out on the Korean peninsula. Contrary to every expert expectation in the mainstream media, that shocking reality appears to be in the works. Who thought Kim Jong-un would be stepping across the border with South Korea to clasp raised hands with President Moon Jae-in to declare “No More War,” which is today's banner headline.

He complains about those opposed to his preferred president.

How is it that Trump didn't blow up the world with his insulting tweets? The mainstream trotted out a bevy of experts to declare that Trump was crazy, that he was going to push the North Korean dictator to unleash an onslaught upon Seoul, killing millions of innocent civilians. Trump needed to be declared mentally unfit for office and removed before he touched off World War III, and on and on it went.

He gets his audience to be prepared to disregard criticism of his preferred president.

Last week the breathless CNN reporter from on-location declared that he was “speechless” at the turn-around in attitude and stated intentions from North Korean leadership. It simply couldn't be that Donald Trump made a believer out of Little Rocket man! War plans were in the offing, and no amount of dire threats or covert diplomacy could alter reality. Prepare yourself now for the mainstream media to explain why the current peace overtures had nothing to do with the mentally deranged ego-maniac Donald Trump. Isn't that their job? Isn't that what they have to do next? Well, yes, it is. Either that or suffer a loss of face that is simply unacceptable. Hopefully their sneers, smirks and disgusted expressions have been permanently retained as a part of the record that will forever brand them as “reporters” of fake news.

Seeking to teach his followers to disregard criticism of his preferred president he cites one of his previous weekly updates complaining of the widespread concern that there may have been some sort of collaboration between the Trump campaign and Russian officials in the 2016 presidential election.

Expert predictions by mainstream outlets have been way off the mark, in case no one's noticed. There was simply no way Trump could ever win the presidency, it couldn't happen. When it did happen, it had to be a fraudulent outcome based on Russian meddling. An edition of this update from twelve months ago said, “If you've looked in on the chattering experts at all you know that the 'reporting' has gone far beyond negativity. It has consisted primarily of endless speculation that president-elect Trump and his campaign team were 'potentially colluding' with Russian intelligence to “hack the election,” an act that should constitute nothing short of treason. It's been the biggest, longest-running speculative news story, perhaps of all time.”

But if the story is so phony why hasn't it gone away? According to Mark Armstrong there is a massive conspiracy within law enforcement agencies to remove his preferred president from office.

Needless to say, it's a whole year later and still they repeat the same mantra, even while ignoring hard evidence that the whole Russia-collusion story was a hoax cooked up by the opposing party and “investigated” to the nth degree by high officials of every American law enforcement agency. Even though the ruse is exposed to millions (though a small percentage of the population), those highly educated, brilliant officials are playing dumb. Former FBI Director Comey still doesn't know who paid for the “unverified and salacious dossier” (as he described it under oath). It's his foggy recollection that it was an insignificant part of the application to the secret FISA court for a warrant to eavesdrop and spy on the Trump campaign.

Even though there is much debate and discussion advocating many of views Mark Armstrong implies that those opposed to his preferred president simply support whatever President Obama decided to do even if a decision of his "involved technical violations of protocol and law."

A theme has begun to develop in all this. It appears that whatever seemed “right” in the eyes of officials appointed under the Obama administration should be done for the “greater good,” even if it involved technical violations of protocol and law. It was the fallback position of nearly everything we witnessed over eight years, whether authorizing illegal aliens to remain in the United States, socializing the medical establishment or sending cargo planes loaded with cash to Iran, it was always “the right thing to do,” never mind the pesky details of the Constitution or the Law.

Suddenly acts that occurred under President Obama are somehow linked with the alleged massive conspiracy to supposedly overthrow Mark Armstrong's preferred president.

Ridding the White House of Donald Trump was, “the right thing to do,” regardless of the details of policy, protocol and law, and that's what the Obama FBI, CIA and State Department set out to do. Proof is in their own internal communications, many of which have been published, many more are being slow-walked or concealed by hold-over officials still in place. Most remain convinced that driving Trump from office is their highest calling, and if laws are broken in the process, “What difference, at this point, does it make?”

He then mentions the tragic case of Alfie Evans. He makes the inflammatory accusation that British health authorities are hindering his access to health care so that they can be perceived as correct.

The glory of Britain's socialist health care is once again on full display. You've probably seen the likeness of the 23-month-old baby the UK has ordered to be removed from life support. His parents want their baby released to travel to Italy for additional efforts to save his life. But British authorities can't allow that to happen. What if he lives? That would call all their life-ending decisions into question. They said the baby would die within minutes of having the ventilator removed. But much to their dismay, he's breathing on his own. Now there is a legal battle the government medical authorities can't afford to lose, and it's a mighty dicey situation they find themselves in, hoping a baby won't survive so their government-run health care system won't be embarrassed.

He mentions President Macron and Chancellor Merkel visiting President Trump. Mark Armstrong implied the media ignored it to weaken his preferred president. He also scare mongered that Chancellor Merkel might cause Muslims to migrate to the United States once again indulging in some crass Islamophobia to keep his followers afraid of the world outside of the organization.

This week saw one of the more impressive State visits in recent memory. Sure, the President of France and his wife were here to lobby the president on three or four specific issues, like the Iran Deal, Paris Climate Accords and the tenure of U. S. troops in Syria. There were no signs of capitulation on any of those fronts from President Trump, but the 250-year alliance between the U. S. and France were formally celebrated, and largely ignored if not concealed by a media determined that nothing good could ever come from a Trump presidency. Angela Merkel is visiting the White House today, where she'll try to convince the President that a vast Muslim influx was “the right thing to do” for Europe.

He then complains that “the right thing to do” is very wrong. He condemns gay people as is very common among the COGs. He even makes the wild accusation that the State of California may make the Bible illegal.

Have you noticed what's happened? We've arrived at a time and place where “the right thing,” according to mainstream conventional wisdom, violates reason if not reality. Flooding the country with undocumented foreigners is the “right thing to do” unless, of course you're a racist. Acquiescing to everything “gay,” including marriage is “the right thing to do,” unless of course you're “homophobe,” literally a made-up word meant to slime traditional Christians. If the pope had his way there would be no such thing as a “traditional” Christian, certainly not one that believes in the Bible. California legislators are considering passing a law outlawing “hate speech.” And you know what that means. God's Word, the ultimate Law on which those evil “traditional” laws are based may be declared illegal by the California legislature, because of course it's the “right thing to do!”

Mark

And so we see that Mark Armstrong has released another weekly update. And his followers continue to send money to this organization.

Recently read Killing Kennedy by (the now disgraced) Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard. One resource cited for writing chapter 10 discussing the crisis in Vietnam during the Kennedy Administration was Rethinking Camelot by Noam Chomsky (1993).

Rethinking Camelot, by Noam Chomsky, deals with the early days of Vietnam in graphic detail. (p. 309.)

Considering how the right tends to be opposed to Chomsky it was surprising to see him cited in this book.

Monday, April 23, 2018

Mark Armstrong, leader of the Intercontinental Church of God, son of Garner Ted Armstrong, grandson of HWA, has released another weekly update (April 20, 2018).

Let's see what he has to say.

First he talks about the State of Israel celebrating the seventieth anniversary of its independence. The COGs tend to view the State of Israel as a sort of good luck charm which will somehow cause Christ to return. Furthermore because of the inaccurate doctrine of British Israelism the predominantly American followers of Armstrongism believe that Jews are related to themselves. While it is true that all humans are related to each other white Americans are not related to Jews in the way that British Israelism teaches.

Greetings from Tyler,

Seventy years later, Israel remains on the map. Like an oasis in the midst of a vast desert, the tiny sliver on the globe is a bastion of freedom like few places on earth. Muslim interests have tried endlessly to eradicate the phenomenon through wars, with terrorism and with mindless accusations of every imaginable evil and they're not through yet. Well, some of them are. Egypt recognized the expensive futility of the endless state of war and, under Anwar Sadat, made peace. Jordan also came to grips with under the reign of King Hussein after having been defeated and humiliated twice, realizing peaceful coexistence was the only viable option.

Actually for most of its history since it proclaimed independence in 1948 the State of Israel has been the superior military power compared with the other Arab nations. In 1956 the Israeli army was able to seize the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt in just eleven days, but they were compelled to give it up after political pressure from President Eisenhower. In 1967 Israel's army seized the Sinai Peninsula again in six days. Israel eventually acquired nuclear weapons. For years now Israel has conducted air strikes against the Assad regime in Syria at various times according to various reports outside of Israel and the Assad regime does not dare retaliate in a similar manner. To this day the Arab nations have not been able to gain military parity with the State of Israel.

Also Egypt made peace partly because the Israeli government agreed to return the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt. Jordan made its peace treaty with Israel in 1994 partly because they were encouraged by Fatah's agreement to participate in the Oslo peace process the previous year.

He conveniently ignores the issue of the Palestinian refugees. About 750,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes by Israeli forces during the Israeli War of Independence (1947-9) and, with very few exceptions, the Israeli government has refused to let them return. Some of these expelled Palestinians were also Christians and they also yearn to return.

Even the wealthiest Gulf kingdoms gave up the public fight, while still allowing radical Islamic religious outfits to preach and facilitate terrorist activities. Terrorist attacks have been visited upon Europe and the United States primarily because of acceptance and support of the Jewish state. But Israel's list of outright enemies consists of Iran, Syria and a laundry list of terrorist outfits hiding behind the religious rants of radical Islamists.

The highlighted statement is troubling. Is Mark Armstrong blaming the State of Israel for the problem of Al Qaeda like extremists? We should blame the terrorists for their terrorism and not other people. We need to be careful to be responsible with what we say. One reason Al Qaeda extremism have arisen was because of the preaching of one Abdullah Azzam, who revived the idea of waging war with a twisted interpretation of religion as a motivation in order to lead people to go to Afghanistan and fight the Soviets. This idea was later used by Osama bin Laden but he changed the target and decided to attack America instead of Russia.

When President Trump announce that the American Embassy would be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem the mainstream media erupted with a series of dark predictions as to the angry reactions across the Arab world potentially leading to war.

Actually a lot of people were upset with that decision. Many Palestinians protested this decision in the Holy Land and some of them were even killed. This decision makes it harder to forge a peace agreement between the State of Israel and the Palestinians. The Palestinians want Jerusalem, more specifically East Jerusalem, to be the capital of an independent Palestinian state. Not having East Jerusalem is not much of an option for the Palestinians since it would be a major source of revenue in an independent Palestinian state containing the land Israel conquered in 1967. It seems evident that the Palestinians will not give up East Jerusalem.

For seventy long years hate-filled Imams and sheiks preached of driving the Jews into the Mediterranean Sea as they ran from the fires and explosions of Muslim wrath. Instead, fireworks displays went off in the skies above Jerusalem this week celebrating 70 years and counting. The new American embassy in Jerusalem is expected to open next month.

The COGs teach that the State of Israel will in the near future be conquered during the Great Tribulation shortly before Christ's return. So the COGs seem to agree with these "Imams and sheiks" that some sort of cataclysm will soon be visited upon the State of Israel.

But Iran, or rather Iranian religious and political leaders are still living the dream, such as it is. A spokesman for their Revolutionary Guard blustered this week that their “finger is on the trigger” of missile systems aimed at Israel and its military assets. “Our missiles are ready to be launched at any moment...The only way for you to escape will be to the sea!” There it is, that seventy-year-old dream of driving the Jews into the sea.

Such heated rhetoric is of course a concern but the State of Israel has an army. Israel gets about 25% of its military expenditure paid for as aid by the US government. They even have nuclear weapons as an option. Israel is far from helpless. This is one reason why a peace treaty between the State of Israel and the Palestinians would be good since that would deny a pretext for Iran.

Mark Armstrong then seems to boast about the recent air strikes against the Assad regime in Syria.

We don't know how successful Iran has been at placing military assets in Syria, but presume Israel does. The missile air-strikes against Syria's chemical production and storage facilities apparently went off without a hitch. Apparently, no one was even hurt, while structures and storage depots were eliminated. Russia stayed completely out of the way, leaving many a brilliant analyst with crow on his face, even though there are outstanding questions about the validity of chemical attack still circulating.

Without question things are in a dire state in the Middle East at present. But the COGs insist that things will get far worse. They insist that some sort of nuclear war will soon occur. They insist that things will only get better after Christ returns. In other words there is no hope and no one can do anything to help until Christ returns. That is a terrible way to view matters. How is anyone supposed to do anything constructive thinking like this? It is better to have hope and to know that peace is possible no matter remote it may seem at present. Peace will return to the Middle East. May that day soon dawn.

He then talks about North Korea.

Other than the obvious tensions between Russia, China and the United States, Iran, with its nuclear ambitions, remains the world's number one concern. Until a few weeks ago, that dubious honor belonged to North Korea. You haven't forgotten his threats, or the responses from the Trump administration leading scores of elite media experts to warn that World War III would be ignited by a presidential tweet storm. In case the news organizations forgot to apologize for their criticisms of the unhinged, clinically insane egomaniac who was about to blow up the world inadvertently, that never happened. And when it didn't, they pretended not to notice.

And so we see Mark Armstrong using tensions regarding North Korea to once condemn the media.

Now we know that Mike Pompeo, Director of the CIA and nominee for Secretary of State has been in high-level negotiations with North Korea, maybe Kim Jong-un himself. It seems too fantastic to believe, particularly after all the scare-mongering on cable news. Maybe North Korea is leading diplomats down a primrose path and it's another trick like those played on numerous previous administrations. If so, we'll know soon enough, and the dire predictions will resume. In the meantime, the Japanese are sleeping a lot better without missile tests overhead. Several reports indicate that real progress has been made and that President Trump may indeed meet with Kim Jong-un on neutral territory sometime in the near future.

Of course he happens to be quite pleased when things seem to go well for his preferred president.

He then mentions the recent release of Comey's memos regarding his conversations with Mark Armstrong's preferred president.

Lastly, the Russia-collusion story has fallen completely apart, though CNN has yet to notice. The Comey bombshells weren't even firecrackers. His classified Memos, released overnight, dispute the posture taken in his book and promotional interviews. His memos exonerate Trump, both on the Russia-collusion accusation and the obstruction of justice claims. Still, the false “dossier” has given Comey and all the sober media analysts the opportunity to use Trump's name in close proximity to descriptions of ladies of the evening and various unmentionable exploits. They can't get enough of it. They repeat the same grotesque phrases again and again, (as does Comey in self-righteous whispers) in the apparent hope that the President's name will become synonymous with the lowest of behavior.

Actually the memos do not discuss the evidence of alleged collusion with Russia and the memos' similarity with Comey's later testimony further enhances his credibility on this particular topic. It seems quite clear that these memos will not stop the ongoing investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

Mark Armstrong insists that there is some sort of conspiracy against his preferred president being conducted by "top officials in the FBI, the DoJ, the NSA and the CIA," an allegation that serves to make his followers inclined to ignore whatever such individuals may say about any investigation involving his preferred president. He is teaching his followers to ignore their statements.

Despite the underhanded efforts of top officials in the FBI, the DoJ, the NSA and the CIA, the truth of their conspiracy in violation of laws they were sworn to uphold and defend, is leaking out more rapidly all the time. Suddenly the “professional career public servants” are playing defense. They were so sure that their activities would be covered by a Hillary Clinton presidency that they got sloppy and put all kinds of evidence against themselves in writing, casually. Even joyfully. That's how arrogant these people were. Though we'd never heard of some of them at the time, they're rapidly becoming household names bound for infamy.

He ends his polemic insisting that he will never let himself submit to the Pope even though he never mentioned the Pope anywhere else in this weekly update. No one can force to become Catholic so why is he worried about the Pope?

The very survival of the United States as a Constitutional Republic still hangs in the balance, despite some of the largely ignored good news. It seems the large corporations, mainstream media, social media and educational institutions are determined that we all bow down to the dictates of political correctness. That's not going to happen, not even if the pope himself demands it. Especially if the pope demands it!

Mark

And so yet another weekly missive from Mark Armstrong comes to an end. Somehow the people in his organization still take him seriously and send tithes to his organization.

If You are new please read this

Hand in Hand for Syria

Keep Somalia's Remittances Open

I encourage readers to sign this petition from Oxfam calling upon the U.S. government to let the Somali diaspora continue to send remittance to their loved ones in Somalia.

Moves have been made to shut down such remittances from Somalis in America. Many Somalis need these remittances. The remittances to Somalia are larger than foreign aid contributions and are a lifeline to these people caught in trouble and turmoil.

It is true that HWA said that some Eastern European states would break away from Moscow's orbit and join the European Empire he said would arise at any moment. But he never talked of the Soviet Union collapsing. He did not teach that. Also he portrayed the rise of the European Empire to be far quicker then what has actually happened. In Mystery of the Ages Christ was supposed to return by 2005 at the most.

So assertions that the fall of the Berlin Wall somehow prove that HWA was right is just complete nonsense spread by people who, for whatever reason, are still in denial that HWA was a false prophet who merely talked out of his own "human reasoning".

Truth about Roderick C. Meredith

What sort of man is he? A man who could say things like this.

"Mr. Armstrong has reminded us again that we are to disfellowship any members who attend GTA's [Garner Ted Armstrong's] campaigns, church services or other meetings. Some of our weaker members apparently do not realize that this man is in direct rebellion against God and His government! We must not allow them, or ourselves, to rationalize about this matter, to try to "help the underdog," or in any other way lend support to one whose gross immorality, whose long standing "play acting" and hypocrisy, and whose direct insubordination to the Government of God has long been and is now a source of confusion and DIVISION among God's people. So, as per Mr. Armstrong's instruction, I charge and exhort every one of you faithful ministers of the living Christ to explain this in no uncertain terms to your members, to warn them about this cause of division and then to disfellowship any who consort with GTA or any of his fellows." (Roderick C. Meredith, Pastor's Report, May 21, 1979, pp. 1-2.)

David Robinson on Roderick C. Meredith

"During the ten years I have been an employee of the Worldwide Church, you have been poorly spoken of by most of the ministers and employees I have known. I vividly remember the absolute unbounded glee that was openly expressed by a good number of respected men in the church when you were first "shanghaied." [In 1972.] I could begin by naming names, which I am sure would shock you. I was one of the few who stood, where possible, for you. Your tenure as superintendent of ministers, as I believe the office was then called, was looked on as nightmarish. While you held office during the years of growth, most of those whom I know gave you very little credit for that growth. Almost everyone whom I know, whether they be former friends of yours, or continuing foes, recalls insensitive and terrible things you have done. Without exception, at least among my acquaintances, they all credit you with an unbridled lust for power and list you as one who is willing to pay the price of gaining that power, no matter what. I have, through many of the last few years, believed you had principles you would not violate. Many a man of experience in the church assured me of my error. Events have proven me wrong and them right. Mr. Armstrong has himself been widely quoted as saying of you that you were so righteous that you were so "righteous you were unrighteous." " (David Robinson, Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web, Chapter 16, p. 207.)

Of course it is impossible for me to personally verify these assertions but people deserve to know what this knowledgeable man had to say about him.